Editorial: Return Policy or Policy of Exclusion?

[Tom Andry]

<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/return-policy-or-policy-of-exclusion/"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><IMG style="WIDTH: 102px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[stop_hand2_11] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/return-policy-or-policy-of-exclusion/image_mini" align=left border=0></FONT></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Here at Audioholics (and really all over the Internet) we often hear horror stories of customer service. Few companies are immune to such complaints though a bit a research will quickly bring to light those with better or worse track records. Obviously, you can’t make everyone happy – it just isn’t possible. But you <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">can </I>take care of the vast majority of problems usually with a simple fix or by having someone at tech support with half a brain. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">[</FONT><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/ReturnPolicy.php"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Read the Editorial</FONT></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">]&nbsp;</FONT></SPAN></P>

 

[Rowdy S13]

Great write up with lots of good points.

Sean

 

[Davemcc]

This is all true. Yet, I still believe that accountants have too much control over customer service. They probably have some matrix that figures out cost of customer service vs. lost future sales vs. unaffected future business by new customers, etc, etc. If the bottom line is screw your owner base to turn a profit on new walk in business, that's what they'll do. Just my opinion.

 

[Alex2507]

This is all true. Yet, I still believe that accountants have too much control over customer service. They probably have some matrix that figures out cost of customer service vs. lost future sales vs. unaffected future business by new customers, etc, etc. If the bottom line is screw your owner base to turn a profit on new walk in business, that's what they'll do. Just my opinion.

The accountants at Infinity must have figured that their bottom line would be best served by taking me at my word and and fixing my receipt-less PS-10 subwoofer. Talk about inspiring brand loyalty.

 

[j_garcia]

LOL. That reminded me of:

Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

When it comes to the lower cost items, it practically costs them nothing to fix it, since it didn't cost them much to build in the first place. They make their money in volume, not individual sales. Big companies could care less if you are satisfied, they only care whether or not you buy their product.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I think I struggle most with companies that will only warranty their product or talk to you if you bought through an 'authorized' dealer. I get the concept, but really, if I bought from BB/CC is it any less likely that I abused the product compared to if I bought from Bob's Electronics Barn? Did the manufacturer make less because I bought elsewhere?

Most often, the only reason this claim seems to be made is to protect certain retailers. It forces me to consider whether or not my warranty will even be valid, but it may cost me hundreds of dollars more to get that certainty.

Example: The Panasonic TH-58PX60U - 58" plasma...
At Best Buy, who I imagine is definitely an authorized seller, the price is $3,999.00 not including tax.

At Best Buy Plasma.com the same plasma is $3,400 shipped to my door.

So, is Panasonic going to warranty this item? Am I forced to pay hundreds more just to be ensured that I will be protected by a Panasonic warranty?

I get certain things, and customer service constantly has to deal with silly things on a regular basis. But, it seems that there are many manufacturers out there that actively work against the consumer in ways that are damn near archaic.

 

[furrycute]

Well, I am no expert on these issues, but here's what little I know of.

In many cases, manufacturers pay regional distributors a set of amount of money for expected warranty repairs. So you have a distributor for U.S., a distributor for Canada, a distributor for Singapore, etc.

Not all regional distributors pay the same price for the same product from the same manufacturer. The U.S. distributor probably more than the Singapore distributor for the product from the same manufacturer.


Sometimes retailers can purchase products from overseas distributors at lower prices, bypassing their regional distributors. Those products are then called grey market goods. Because the warranty repair is provided by the regional distributor, they made no profit in the retailer selling a grey market product, and undoubtedly the regional distributor will be unwilling to provide warranty repair.

That's why manufacturers/regional distributors designate "authorized dealers," because these dealers agree to exclusively purchase products from the regional distributor, and will sell these products at a price level that the regional distributor will make a healthy profit on. And in turn those products will be covered under this particular region's warranty.

Also, if a big authorized retailer cannot sell all their inventory, they will sometimes sell them to other unathorized retailers at lower prices. This is not strictly legl. And in the process, these products are turned into grey market products as well. So in turn, these products wont have warranty.


So sometimes when you find dramatic differences in price on the same product from two different retailers, always check to make sure it is not a grey market product. Otherwise if you purchase a grey market product or from an unauthorized retailer, you may lose your warranty.

 

[highfihoney]

Dont forget to include "back door gear" when a dealer needs to raise funds quickly or meet a quota set forth by the manufacturer they will sell the gear out the back door, meaning the new gear is listed as being used gear that way they can cut the price dramatically without violating msrp agreements with certian manufacturers.

Ive bought gear like this quite a few times,even though the buyer is the 1st person to use the gear its still used & comes with no warranty.

 

[Alex2507]

I know a guy who had an instance with a retailer that accepted the return of a cordless drill because the charger was broken. Problem was that he mistakenly returned his son's functioning drill, charger, case etc.. When the error was discovered he went to actually return his defective one. By then they had changed their policy.

Keep in mind that RI is a small state but he went to just about every one of their stores in the state and they told him to bugger off. He then somehow talks me into trying to return it for him because by now he's made a scene in every store in the state. So now I'm running around explaining this to people and they don't care what the rules were last week. This is this week.

The last store I was in I asked the guy what the return policy was today. He told me and I asked him if it was in writing. He pointed to the sign above the return desk. I bought a really nice tool and used it for 29 days and brought it back. When I was asked what was wrong with it I pointed to the sign and told him store policy says with a receipt and within 30 days NO questions asked.

I know it made no difference in the big picture but I felt vindicated.